GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1676, 13 April 1904, Page 59

GENERAL NEWS.

'• r* i? ROOSEVELDT’S PROSPERS. THo Republican conventieti. Jo licminato tlie next President of th.ej.3nited Statist meets on June 21, inJiCliicago, an.d the Democratic convention, in: St I Louis, on Jufly 6. , As yet the- Democrats'do not seem to have a man ready.. It is expected that they will nominate, a “conservative” candidate on a “conservative” platform. Bryan is now; obsolete. Probably the Republicans' ■will have no choice but Roosevelt, the President now in office'. But Mr Maurice Low. who writes on American topics in the “National Review,” doubts’ if Rooseveildt will be accepted by the nation. He is not regarded as a sine ruler. “Popular as Mr Roosevelt is with millions of his countrymen, lie is equally unpopular with hundreds of thousands, who think more and say less than the millions. Mr Roosevelt is too flighty to please them ; too unstable, too uncertain a quantity to make them feel quite easy, and they do not like to be kept constantly in a state of tension. ‘‘Despite his popularity lie -has the active aud determined opposition of men who exercise great influence, some of ■Whom; stalwart Republicans as they are would rather see a Democrat of the right character elected than face the uncertainties of the next four years of Mr Rco-sevelt’s Presideucy. “What the President has to fear (the •‘Boston Herald’ points out) and take into account is a growing opinion among the sober, staid citizens of this country—the farmers, the small dealers. and what may be termed our intelligent middle-class, who form the true conservative forces in the United States’—that he cannot be _ depended upon to act safely and wisely in a national crisis. It is the distrust or this class of our common people, not the emissary of the great financiers, that the President lias seriously to take into account.” "WORN-OUT PHRASES. The “Saturday Review” is publishing lists supplied by correspondents of phrases that have become stereotyped, and ought to bo dropped from news-paper-writing. A few are subjoined, for the benefit of young readers and convection-loving journalists:—• “Increasing by leaps and bounds’’ (Gladstone). This was a poor phrase to begin with, for what is the difference' between a leap and a bound? Now one' can hardly read a paragraph about statistics without finding it.' “Conspicuous by his absence” (Shakespeare). “More, honoured in the breach than the observance” (Shakespeare). “It‘is always the unexpected that happens.” “A mad world, my masters.” “There is much virtue in an if.” “Like Topsy, perhaps it ‘growed.’ " “Like the late Lord Beaconsfield on a famous occasion, ‘on the side of the angefy’.” “Like Brer Rabbit,', ‘to lie low and say nuffin.’ ” “Like Oliver Twist, ho ask for more.’ ” “Like Napoleon, a believer in ‘the big battalions.’ ” “Pyrrhic Victory.” “Sturm und Drang.” “Masterly inactivity.” “Splendid isolation.” “The isword of Damocles.” ’ “The -thin end of the wedge." “The long arm of coincidence.” “The soul of goodness in things evil.” “Hobson’s choice.” “Frankenstein’s monster." “Macaulay’s schoolboy.” “Mahomet’s coffin.” “Davy Jones’s locker.” LYNCH LAW. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the origin of the term Lynch Law has not been determined. It is often asserted to have arisen from the proceedings of Charles Lynch, a justice of the peace in Virginia, who .in 1782 was indemnified by an act of the Virginian Assembly for having illegally fined and imprisoned certain Tories in 1780. But Mr Albert Matthews informs us that no evidence has been adduced to show that Charles Lynch was ever concerned m acta such as those which from 1817 onward were designated as “Lynch’s law.” It is possible that the perpetrators of these acts may have claimed that in the infliction of punishments not sanctioned by .the laws of the country they were following the example of Lynch, which had been justified by the act of indemnity;’ or there may have been some other man of this name who was a ringleader ‘ in such proceedings. Some have conjectured that the term is derived from the name of Lynehe’s Creek, in South ' Carolina., which is known to have been in 1768 a meetingplace of the “Regulators,” a band of men whose professed object was to sup’ply the want of regular administration of minimal justice in the Carolinas, and who committed many acts of violence oh those suspected of “Toryism.” 1817 S. Roane in W. Wirt “Life P. Henry” (1818) 372: In the year 1792, - there (were many suits on the south side of the James River, for inflicting Lynch’s law. 1819 W. Faux “Diary” 29 November in “Mernor. Days m Amer.’ <1823) 394: The people [of Princeton, Indiana], .deputed four persons to inform him. that unless he quitted the

town and state immediately, he should receive Lynch's law, that is. a whipping in the woods. 1828 J. Hall “Lett. fr. West” 291: No commentator has taken any notice of Lynch’s law, which was once the lex loci of the frontiers. 183-5 W. Irving “Tour Prairies” 41: “Lynch’s law,” as it is technically termed, in: which the plaintiff is apt to -be witness, jury, judge, and executioner. 1839 Stonehouso “Axhclme” 112. The burning Reading’s house was a terrible example of what the Americans term lynch law. 1879 Farrar “St Paul” I. ■570. They seized the- opportunity cif executing a little Lynch flaw. 1883 Bryce “Amec. Commw.’ 111. 309: Lynch law. however shocking to Europeans'. is far removed from arbitrary violence. THE LARGEST PALACE. The Kremlin is the largest, as well as perhaps the most famous of Royal palaces in the world. Although the actual moderm building—or, rather, group of buildings—dates only from the reign of Nicholas 1., the rulers of Russia have lived in the Kremlin from time immemorial, and even of late years the Czar and Czarina always make a point of spending a portion of each year in Moscow, so .long the capital of ancient Russia. There are a thousand rooms'in the Kremlin, and the state apartments are indescribably splendid.’ much of the furniture being literally studded with precious stones. Of the series of halls, perhaps the most wonderful is that of St Catherine, of which the walls arc supported by malachite pillars. Here the newly-crowned Czarina always holds her first court, immediately after her coronation. Among the smaller rooms, though they also are of vast proportions, special interest attaches to the Czar’s state bedroom, which is entirely hung with white brocade, while the pilasters which reach from the floor to the roof are of verde antique, and the mantelpiece and dressing-table off the costliest jasper. It is thought in Russia that the Emperor and Empress will move to the Kremlin and spend there a portion of time before the issue of the ■Russian-Japanese conflict is finaljy concluded. PARTLY-BURIED LOUVRE. M. Redon, architectural expert of the Louvre, has made a sensational discovery, which has produced great excitement in the archaeological and artistic world of Paris. He lias found out (says the “Telegraph’s” correspondent) tint the palace lies buried t>o> a depth of seven and a half metres, or _ over 244 ft. —that' is to gay, nearly a third -of its entire height. “For 300 years the fine frontage of the building has been thus bidden. It is just as if some splendid statue had stood covered with earth up to its knees,” M. Redon, remarks. He had a trench dug in a garden adjoining the Louvre, and brought to light a magnificent stonework substructure before reaching the foundations. Tins buried portion is described as being fully as fin© as the basements of the grandest Florentine palaces. Obviously, 'this stonework was never intended to be below ground. M. Redon has come to the conclusion that in the original scheme a moat some 50ft wide, was to have surrounded the palace, but cbuld not be excavated to its full width, as at the time tls3 building stood in the midst of houses. When the houses disappearM the original plans had been forgotten and the level of the soil gradually rose to its present height. THE VICTORIA CROSS. Admiral C. D. Lucas enjoys the dis tinction of having been the first recipient of the Victoria Cross The act of conspicuous bravery, on June 21, 1854, by which be secured it consisted in throwing overboard during the campaign in the Baltic a live shell which had fallen on board the Heela. The V.C. had its origin during the Crimean war. when Queen Victoria felt that some recognition of the personal daring and heroism of soldiers in that terrible straggle was needed Both the Cross and its bar are made from bronze' which formed part of Russian guns captured in the Crimea,, ■ At one time the ..award was not confined to service in ; faction. In 1866 a private in the Rifle Brigade was granted the Cross for ’heroic conduct at a fire in Canada, while a London policeman was among the first batch of. recipients decorated by Queen Victoria in Hyde-park in 1857. By a change made ha 1885 the Cross can now be earned only by service in the field. When first- instituted the .decoration was viewed with anything but favour by many soldiers* who held it to be superfluous and uncalled for. “As well decorate a woman for her virtue as a soldier for being brave ” was one famous officer’s blunt way of putting it. Nowadays it is the most highly prized of all distinctions. THE RUSSIAN KITCHENER. Under tins title the Paris correspondent of the “ Daily News ” refers to the ■nreisemt Commander-in-Chief of the Rus-

.sian army of the East —General Kou.ropatkin:—“He was. some years ago* \ well-known and popular figure in. Paris.. I have heard him compared with Lord Kitchener. And for resourcefulnes*.*and tremendous energy, as also as-regards their rapid advancement in the service, there is between them a great resemblance. . Amusing stories are told cf Kou'r'opafkin’s adventures in France in 1874. when ho went about the country •studying the battlefields of the FrancoGerman war, jotting down notci-j and taking sketches. The French authorities even helped the young lieutenant, as* he then was. But the peasantry were suspicious. The cry cf “ German spy * was still sounding in their ears. And poor young Kouropatkin was often shadowed, and chased, often refused food and lodgings, and compelled to sleep with the sky for a blanket. It is just twenty years since I first heard of General Kouropatkin—captain, as-- he then was. I think. There was a. -stare about a threatened Russian invasion cf Turkish Armenia.. So two or three weeks later I was in Kars, and talking with the Governor-General, General Grossman, who had much to say about the Russo-Turkish war. Among the Russian officers whom lie named as having distinguished themselves in it was Kouropatkin. Kouropatkin was a groat favourite with Skobeleff, who said of him that, if a bullet did not bowl him over, he would go a long way.” Ail the same. Kouropatkin lias not faced a. formidable foe since Plevna, and there' have been great changes in fighting ways' and arms since then. . Some cf those who saw the Japanese and the Russians outside Pekin thought there were grave errors in formation with both, which if repeated now in action would mean heavy loss. REFUGEES FROM PORT ARTHUR. Mr A.. H. Jervis, a Shanghai merchant who arrived a. few days ago at Brisbane, stated in the course of an interview that Shanghai at the time he left “was inundated with Russians, male and female, of a very undesirable class, who had 1 been sent away by the Russian authorities at a moment’s notice from Port Arthur and. Dalny, owing to shortage of food at those places. The British feeling in Shanghai was entirely in favour of the Japanese, but the French in the place were so extremely pro-Russian that a French paper there, ’The Echo do Chine,’ goes to tho length of publishing expresses, contra dieting aid the reports of war in Japanese and other journals.” Mr Jervis stated that the war was affecting trade at Shanghai very baddy, exchange being'Very high, -on account cf short experts, and the need of banks for money to remit. Trade from Shanghai to Manchuria had been completely blocked, and so had that between Shanghai and Newchwang, but between Shanghai and the rich part of Yang-tse valley trade was still good. Asked if bei thought the Australian trade with the East would suffer . very much through tiro war, lie- replied in the negative'. Ho seemed to think that another outlet might be found for the disposal of Australian meat for the British fleet in Eastern waters, but scarcely for the Japanese troops, whose appetite would be satisfied with a ration chiefly ■ composed of rice.